Korpiklaani is a folk metal band from Lahti, Finland formed in 2003. Korpiklaani is the new name of the band previously called Shaman, that was formed by Jonne Järvelä who still remains the mastermind of Korpiklaani. Whilst Shaman recorded songs in the original Saami language, Korpiklaani recorded most songs in English at first, and mostly Finnish lyrics on their most recent albums.
The music of Korpiklaani ranges from the violin-and-guitar paean to the Finnish god of fermentation Pellonpekko, to the “typical” themed metal Wooden Pints, to Crows Bring The Spring, which is strongly reminiscent of “Ride the Lightning” era Metallica.
There has been some collaboration between Korpiklaani and other bands from the folk metal scene, such as Finntroll, for which Järvelä provided the yoiking for the title track of their album Jaktens Tid, and Skiltron, for which Järvelä provided vocals on the track ‘Praying is Nothing’ from their second full-lenght album.
In the year 2007 Korpiklaani left napalm records to sign with Nuclear Blast Records. They released their new album ”Korven Kuningas” in 2008, touring Europe and playing some festivals shortly afterwards. In 2009, they toured the United States and Canada as the headliners for Paganfest II.
Lineup: Jonne Järvelä - vocals / guitar Kalle “Cane” Savijärvi - guitar Jarkko Aaltonen - bass Jaakko “Hittavainen” Lemmetty - violin Juho “JuhoKusti” Kauppinen - accordion Matti “Matson” Johansson - drums
